


is it too soon to do this yet?

by lazyfish



Series: delicate [2]
Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Background Willjemma, Marriage Proposal, Multi, Polyamory, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Therapy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-25
Updated: 2020-12-25
Packaged: 2021-03-10 18:21:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,568
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28321545
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lazyfish/pseuds/lazyfish
Summary: Hunter kills Ward, Jemma comes back from Maveth, Daisy falls in love, and Mack has a very important question to answer.
Relationships: Alphonso "Mack" Mackenzie & Skye | Daisy Johnson, Lance Hunter/Alphonso "Mack" Mackenzie/Bobbi Morse
Series: delicate [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2073246
Comments: 6
Kudos: 17





	is it too soon to do this yet?

**Author's Note:**

  * For [smallblueandloud](https://archiveofourown.org/users/smallblueandloud/gifts).



Bobbi’s arms sat heavy around him, but not in the bad way. Her legs were on either side of his hips, his back flush against her front and his head nestled against her chest. With each breath her chest rose and fell under his ear, a small comfort against the darkness swirling around him.

“You can go back to sleep,” Mack murmured without opening his eyes.

“You know I won’t,” she answered, kissing the crown of his head. “I can’t sleep if you can’t sleep.”

“I’m sorry.” Mack didn’t like keeping Bobbi awake - especially not when she was still healing, too.

“You don’t need to be.” Bobbi kissed his head again. “I’ve gotten nightmares before. You know that.”

“Because you almost _died_ ,” Mack harrumphed.

“And you had to cut off someone’s hand. I’m not seeing the difference here.” 

Maybe Bobbi had a point there. Mack didn’t answer, just nuzzled further into Bobbi’s chest. Maybe he didn’t experience any sort of sexual gratification from boobs, but they were soft and Bobbi always smelled nice.

“We don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to,” Bobbi said, stroking a hand along the back of his head. “But if you do want to talk, I’m here. And when Hunter gets back…”

“He’ll come back.” Mack found Bobbi’s good knee and squeezed softly. Why the hell Hunter had insisted on going on his revenge mission solo, Mack didn’t know, but he wasn’t allowed to die, or Mack would kill him. He couldn’t leave them alone, not after…

“I know he will. Man is too stubborn to die.”

“You both are,” Mack agreed. Thank God for that - he wasn’t sure he wanted to live a life without Bobbi and Hunter in it.

“And we’re taking you with us,” Bobbi said through a yawn. 

“Wouldn’t have it any other way.” Mack joined Bobbi in yawning. Some days it was difficult to believe he had ever been anywhere other than by Bobbi and Hunter’s side. Sliding from friendship to romance had been almost laughably easy after they’d gotten everything sorted. He was comfortable, he was safe, and he was wanted.

“Go to sleep,” Bobbi coaxed softly.

Mack had never been good at saying no to her.

\---

“So,” Daisy said, drumming on the kitchen table with her fingers. “Will.”

“What about him?” Mack asked, focusing on the cards in his hand. He had a great poker face but was, by and large, a shit poker player.

“What do you think of him?”

“I met him for all of ten seconds before he got put in the gravity chamber. Don’t really have an opinion.” Personally Mack was more leery of the fact they apparently had a gravity chamber he didn’t know about than anything to do with Jemma’s astronaut boyfriend - though he was going to have a long, long talk with Will after the man was done healing. 

“Babe, you should just fold now,” Bobbi interjected, knocking Mack’s foot under the table. “And Will seems surprisingly well-adjusted for someone who’s spent a decade in solitude. I’d be messed up after that.”

“I’m not folding,” Mack said, sliding a neat stack of chips forward. Was it just to spite Bobbi? Yes, yes it was. “And who knows. He could still be messed up.”

“He’d fit right in with us, then,” Daisy said drily. “Alright, I fold. You two can keep making eyes at each other but I’m _not_ watching you make out.”

“When have we ever made you watch us make out?” Bobbi asked as Daisy stood.

“Never. It’s a record I’d like to keep, and you’ve gotten weird since Hunter left, so I’m not taking any chances.” Daisy paused halfway between the table and the door. “Has he called you?”

“Yeah,” Mack answered, foot finding Bobbi’s under the table again. _He’s lying_ , Bobbi had said as soon as they’d hung up. She was probably right, but they couldn’t do anything to help their stubborn idiot of a partner. “He was happy to hear Jemma’s back.”

Daisy’s face broke into a smile. For all her probing about Will, she was just happy to have her best friend back - Mack couldn’t begrudge her that. If Bobbi had been taken… Well, it was a little different with him and Bobbi, seeing as Bobbi was now his partner in more ways than one.

“I think we all are,” Daisy said. “But seriously, if your expressions of happiness involve making out, you have a room for that.”

“Have a nice night, Daisy,” Bobbi said, rolling her eyes at the other woman as she left.

“You still wanna play?” Mack asked when Daisy was out of earshot.

“Nah. We both know I’d sweep the floor with you,” Bobbi said, lips quirking into a smile.

“Have a little faith in me, Barbara.”

“I have about as much faith in you as Daisy does in our ability to control our more carnal urges,” Bobbi snorted. “Does she know you’re ace?” she asked as she began clearing the table.

“I don’t think so. The jokes don’t bother me, though, and I think in trying to explain more about how we do things she’d probably learn more about our sex life than she really wants to know.” Mack helped Bobbi finish collecting the chips and setting them in the case. “You know, there’s surprisingly few opportunities to tell people you’re ace unless they’re interested in sleeping with you.”

“We just need to get you a flag or something. If you want one, that is,” Bobbi added. She put the case with the poker materials back in its proper place before setting off down the hallway towards their quarters.

“And hang it where? In our bedroom, where only the three of us go anyway?”

“We could put it in the common room. Have a hall of flags vibe. Or we could get you an ace ring! I hear those are coming back into style.”

“I’m fine,” Mack said. “Unless it bothers you that people don’t know.”

Bobbi halted. “Why would it bother me?”

Mack shrugged. “Daisy makes sex jokes sometimes. I know Jemma used to, too. Honestly I’m surprised no one’s asked you about who the better lay is already.”

“Hey.” Bobbi grabbed for his hand and Mack allowed it, just as he allowed her to tug him in close. “None of that’s worth outing you if you don’t want to be out. What happens in our bedroom is between me, you, and Hunter. I am _fine_ with telling people to fuck off if they ask questions like that, even if I can’t quite kick their asses yet.”

“You can still kick their asses,” Mack assured her, running a hand through her hair. “And I appreciate it, Barbara, really, but if it ever comes up, you’re welcome to tell Daisy, or Jemma, or - anyone but Will.”

Bobbi wrinkled her nose. “Why does the astronaut care whether or not we’re having sex?”

“He doesn’t.” Mack smiled. “Which is why you’re not allowed to tell him.”

“You’re cute,” Bobbi said, running her thumb under his lower lip. Mack recognized an invitation when he saw one, and he bent to kiss her carefully.

“We should stop before we become Daisy’s worst fear,” Bobbi teased when they separated.

“I don’t think one kiss constitutes making out,” Mack said dubiously. 

“She can be liberal with her word usage.”

“Sounds like someone else I know.”

“The only words I’m liberal with are four-letter ones.”

“You think I don’t know that?”

By the time they finished their banter Bobbi’s arm was around his waist and her head was on his shoulder. It didn’t seem to be the most comfortable way to walk, but it also wasn’t the first time in their relationship they’d sacrificed comfort for closeness.

\---

“He’s back,” Bobbi said as she burst into the gym.

Mack didn’t need to ask who _he_ was. 

He tossed a towel around his shoulders as he followed Bobbi out the door, blood pounding in his ears. Hunter hadn’t even called to tell them he was on his way, and Mack didn’t know whether that was a good thing or not. 

Before he even made it over the threshold of the hangar Hunter was calling his name.

“Mack!” Hunter’s voice cracked spectacularly when he shouted, and a moment later he had flung himself into Mack’s arms. Mack caught Hunter easily, and it was only when Hunter’s face was buried in Mack’s neck that Mack realized his partner was crying.

“You’re okay,” Hunter whispered, choked. “You’re okay.”

“Yeah, I am, buddy,” Mack said, running his fingers through Hunter’s hair. “What’s wrong?” He couldn’t fit together why Hunter would be worried about whether or not _Mack_ was okay when he had been at the base the whole time.

“Ward knew. That I love you.” Hunter emerged from Mack’s neck just long enough to look Mack in the face. “Someone told him, or he has eyes on the base, or -”

“Lance,” Bobbi interrupted. “We’ll tell Coulson to sweep the base. It’s okay.”

Hunter detached himself from Mack and wound himself around Bobbi instead. He murmured something too low for Mack to hear and Bobbi nodded in response.

“You need to go to medical?” Mack asked.

“No,” Hunter said. “No, I want to be with you, I -”

“You can be with us in medical,” Bobbi said firmly. She gave Mack a look over Hunter’s head, and he tipped his chin forward in the slightest of nods. Hunter was obviously not mentally okay, and Mack didn’t expect him to be, but if he was _hurt_ …

“We’ll be right here,” Mack agreed, wrapping an arm around Hunter’s shoulders. 

“I killed him.”

Mack hadn’t started walking yet, which was probably good, because he would’ve stopped dead in his tracks. “You killed Ward?” He knew that was the mission, but there was no sense of elation In Hunter’s voice that Mack would’ve thought would accompany removing a terrible person from the planet.

“Yeah. Disconnected the computer.”

“What?” Mack asked. He was _pretty_ sure Ward wasn’t a computer. If he was, that was a hell of a plot twist.

“It’s a sniper term,” Bobbi added. “Come on. Medical.” If she had any emotional reaction to hearing Ward was dead, she didn’t show it. Not that Mack had expected her to, but it was going to come up eventually. He knew it was.

Hunter wasn’t doing much better, his eyes glassy as Mack and Bobbi led him through the corridors of the Playground. 

At least he was back, though. Hunter was back, and Ward was dead. Simmons was back, and she was healing.

They were all healing.

\---

Waking up in a cold sweat was becoming an unfortunately common experience. This time when he woke, though, Bobbi was still asleep. She was wrapped tightly around his arm and Mack extricated himself from her carefully. Bobbi snuffled unhappily in her sleep, but rolled over to cuddle Hunter instead. Mack sighed a breath of relief and headed for the bathroom.

He flicked on the water to shower; it was going to be impossible to sleep with the stickiness of sweat still clinging to him, and he needed some time to think. The shower was a good place for thinking.

He had only been under the lukewarm spray for a minute when the door to the bathroom slowly opened. Mack poked his head out from the shower curtain, and found Hunter staring back at him, eyes wide and owlish.

“Can I join you?” Hunter asked softly. Mack nodded, pulling the curtain back so Hunter could step in when he was ready.

The first thing Mack noticed when Hunter joined him in the shower was the bruises blossoming all over Hunter’s chest. He hadn’t offered much about his time undercover other than that Ward was dead now, and Mack hadn’t asked, either. Instead he traced the edges of the bruises with light fingers, trusting that if anything was broken the doctor would’ve noticed when Hunter was checked up earlier.

“Are you okay?” Hunter asked, barely louder than the thrum of the water around them.

“I’m fine,” Mack said, which wasn’t _really_ a lie. He was doing fine, just not great.

“Mack,” Hunter said warningly. 

“Just some bad dreams. You know how it goes.” Mack reached for Hunter’s shampoo, squirting a glob of it into his hand. Hunter had been too tired to shower earlier, but if they were both there, they might as well get clean.

“Have you thought at all about what I told you before I left?” Hunter asked while Mack began to work the shampoo through his hair.

 _I want to marry Bobbi,_ Hunter had said. _But I wanted to talk to you about it first._

He had asked if Mack wanted to get married, too, and all he’d been able to say was that he didn’t know. He didn’t know if he was ready to make that commitment, not when he and Bobbi and Hunter had really only been dating three months - six months if you were generous and counted the time Mack didn’t realize they were dating.

“A little,” Mack admitted as the shampoo began to lather. “Mostly I was gonna be pissed if you died.”

The corner of Hunter’s mouth pulled up. “Didn’t die.”

“I know.” Mack directed Hunter under the water again, combing the shampoo out carefully. “Bobbi would have resurrected you just to kill you again.”

“And I’d have deserved it,” Hunter agreed sagely. “Will you keep thinking about it?”

“If you want to propose to Bobbi, I’m not saying no. Just that I might not want to be a part of it.” Hunter and Bobbi had been together forever, and even when they weren’t together, Mack could attest to how much they had loved each other. It seemed unfair to hold them back from building a future together just because they were waiting on him.

“It wouldn’t be the same without you,” Hunter said. His hand came up to Mack’s face, his fingers tracing Mack’s jawline. “If you want to wait, I’ll wait. I don’t want… this isn’t just us, with you tacked on.”

“I know, buddy.” Mack leaned down to tap his forehead against Hunter’s. “I don’t know what I want, okay?”

“Then I’ll wait.” Hunter pecked Mack’s lips. “Even if the answer is no, I want to know. Please.”

“I’ll tell you when I’ve got it figured out.” It felt like a lie, but Mack was pretty sure that was just because he didn’t know when he’d be able to organize his feelings enough to get past the shockwave of _it’s only been a few months, it’s too soon_. He trusted Hunter to wait if he said he was going to wait, though. Hunter hadn’t lied to him before.

Hunter pressed his lips to Mack’s one more time before pulling away. Hunter busied himself with shampooing Mack’s head just as he had been shampooed. They didn’t need to talk to fill the space, and it was nice just to be in Hunter’s presence after such a long time away.

“Have you told Coulson you’re sorry?” Hunter asked. Mack turned his head down and watched the suds sluice away into the drain.

“How did you know?” Mack asked.

“Because I know you. And I know you don’t like hurting people, even if it’s necessary.” Hunter wrapped his hand around the back of Mack’s neck, but didn’t seem to be bothered by Mack focusing on the tile beneath their feet. “And I also know about survivor’s guilt.”

“It’s not survivor’s guilt,” Mack protested. Coulson was alive still, so it couldn’t be that.

“Regular guilt, then,” Hunter amended. “Either way, it might help you to apologize. Even though he’s going to say it’s not your fault, because it wasn’t.”

“I know it wasn’t.”

“I think this knows it,” Hunter tapped the back of Mack’s head with his hand, “but this doesn’t.” He moved his other hand to Mack’s chest, palm flat against the bare skin above his sternum. “Or you wouldn’t be having nightmares.”

“I’m fine.”

“Mack, love,” Hunter said, fingers circling the nape of Mack’s neck. “You’ve spent the last six months helping me and Bob at every opportunity you got. Would it kill you to let someone help you for a change?”

“Yes,” Mack muttered mutinously.

“And we’re back to Bob having to learn necromancy so she can kill us again.” That drew a chuckle out of Mack despite his best efforts to the contrary.

The hinges on the bathroom door squeaked, and Mack lifted his head.

“Boys?” Bobbi asked blearily.

“Just cooling off,” Hunter answered.

“Come back to bed.”

“Let us dry off and we’ll be back,” Mack said, reaching past Hunter to shut off the water. Most of the sweat had been washed away just by standing under the spray, and Hunter’s attention to his scalp had been a welcome, albeit brief, distraction.

“Promise me you’ll think about what I said?” Hunter asked when Bobbi had stumbled out of the bathroom, still half-asleep. “All of it?”

“Promise.”

\---

“Coulson said they did a sweep of the base,” Bobbi announced two days later when she breezed into the bedroom. “They found a bug in the common room.”

“How the hell did it get there?” Mack asked. And why hadn’t anyone noticed it before?

“We assume it happened when Ward was in Vault D,” she said. “Either way, it’s gone now.”

And Ward was gone now, which Bobbi didn’t say. Still, it was possible he had a lieutenant picked in case he did go down - a thought Mack didn’t have the mental energy to parse that through. He’d been up both nights with memories of chopping off Coulson’s hand plaguing him and the lack of sleep was starting to add up.

“Dr. Garner’s back on base. Apparently he wants to do a psych eval on all of us,” Bobbi said a moment later, flopping onto the bed.

“Coulson’s okay with that?” It seemed like an awful lot of information to give an outsider, even one they trusted.

“I guess so.” Bobbi shrugged. “I’m probably going to lie to him.”

“I don’t think you should be admitting that.” Mack grinned.

“It’s only you. You won’t tell him, will you, Alphie?” she asked, climbing onto his lap. 

“I’ll consider it if you call me Alphie again.”

“It’s a cute name!” Bobbi protested. 

“Yeah, and it’s also the name only my family ever use.” Mack wrapped his arms around Bobbi’s waist. “And as much as I love you, I’m not sure I should think of you like my family.”

“I should hope you don’t like to kiss Reuben,” Bobbi teased. “Or maybe you have an Oedipal complex?”

“You know Freud was wrong about everything, right?”

“I know. But you’re pretty when you get flustered. And every other time, but especially when you get flustered.”

“I think I might have to be okay with being second-prettiest in this relationship,” Mack said, tucking a strand of Bobbi’s hair behind her ear. She really was beautiful, and it would’ve been unfair if she wasn’t his.

“We’ll call it a tie,” Bobbi declared. “Now tell me, what does a pretty lady have to do to get a kiss around here?”

Mack smiled and kissed her obligingly, conversation about Dr. Garner forgotten.

\---

“...and Mack is your preferred name, correct?”

“Yeah.” He shifted in his seat, trying to find someplace to look at that wasn’t suspicious but also wasn’t Dr. Garner’s face.

“You don’t look happy to be here,” the other man observed.

“Just not used to it.” 

“You’ve never met with a psychologist before?”

“I have,” Mack corrected. “When I first started working in the field. A couple other check-ins.”

“And what’s different about this one?” Dr. Garner asked calmly.

“Two years ago I had to kill people I thought were my friends because they turned out to be working for an organization founded by and led by Nazis. I’m not keen on trusting many people after that,” Mack said bluntly.

“Who do you trust?”

“Daisy. Bobbi and Hunter. May. Fitz.”

“What about Agent Simmons?”

“She just got back from an alien planet. I don’t know what the hell happened to her there or what might have changed for her.” Not to mention he hadn’t actually spent much alone time with Jemma at all, between being on opposite sides of the inter-S.H.I.E.L.D. conflict and her strained relationship with one of his closest friends.

“And Director Coulson?”

Mack shrugged. “I think his heart is in the right place. But that’s not always enough, is it?”

Dr. Garner made a noncommittal noise. “Do you think you have trust issues?”

 _Not as bad as Bobbi’s,_ Mack wanted to say, but it didn’t answer the question and also gave the psychologist information Bobbi probably wouldn’t want him to know. “I think I’m slower to trust than I used to be.” That was a good middle ground.

“As is typical after having your trust violated in the way the HYDRA uprising did,” Dr. Garner said, nodding. “Would you describe yourself as paranoid?”

Mack balked at the question and hesitated before answering. Bobbi always teased him about being too careful around robots, but did he _actually_ believe robots were going to take over the world? Most days, no. Sometimes when Siri got too slick with him he would consider it over again, but he would call his robot thing a healthy respect and not necessarily paranoia. “No.”

“If someone new joined the team, how do you think you would react?”

“Depends on who they are and how they joined.” There was no one-size-fits-all answer.

“But you’re open to the possibility?”

“Sure.”

Dr. Garner continued on with a series of questions, most of them centered around Mack’s past and his ability to trust people (or not trust them). There were a few of the ‘how was your childhood’ questions Mack was expecting, but Dr. Garner hadn’t ever come close to prodding at Mack’s sorest spot, trauma-wise. It was almost worse, though, that Hope never came up in conversation - that most of the time he could pretend he had never been a father at all.

“We’re at time for today,” Dr. Garner announced. “I know my primary function here is for assessing Daisy’s new team, but I’d like to continue meeting, if you’re up for it.”

“I’ll think about it,” was the most honest answer Mack could offer.

When he stepped out of Dr. Garner’s office Hunter was leaning against the wall in the hallway. He didn’t ask how it went, just joined Mack in walking down the corridor to the common room.

\---

Daisy dropped into the seat next to him on the couch, unceremoniously, and began the conversation with a bombshell. “How did you realize you were in love with Hunter?”

Mack, like the eloquent man he was, said, “Huh?”

“I mean, how did you know you were in love with Hunter and not just jealous of him because he was with Bobbi?”

“Because I never thought of being with one of them without the other, I guess,” Mack said slowly. “If I had the chance to have Bobbi without Hunter, I wouldn’t have taken it.”

“But how did you _know_?” Daisy repeated. “I mean… were there butterflies? Or what?”

“Tremors, you’re probably asking the wrong person for this.” Or at least, asking the right person at the wrong time. Introspection about his relationship with Bobbi and Hunter was difficult, because it just felt so _right_. And of course Mack knew how dangerous that could be, but the slow slide from friends to lovers had been… well, slow. There was no one moment he could point to and say _I realized I was in love right then_. By the time he knew he was dating Bobbi and Hunter he’d already been in love with both of them for far too long to be proper.

“No, I think I’m asking the right one,” Daisy insisted. “Just… what separates friendship and love? How do I know the difference between a friend I’m sexually attracted to and a friend I’m in love with?”

Now Daisy was _really_ asking the wrong person. “I think when you know, you just know.” Which was the least helpful response, Mack knew. “Listen. If you’re thinking this hard about it, I think you already know the answer.” It had only taken Mack so long to realize his feelings for his best friends because he had talked himself out of them so many times.

“Who’s this about?” Mack asked, even though he had a guess.

“Hypothetical,” Daisy dismissed.

Mack shrugged. She would tell him when she was ready.

\---

“Can I talk to you about something?” Hunter asked as he slid into bed beside Mack. Bobbi was with Jemma and Daisy for the night - lady’s night, they called it - so it was just the two of them for now.

“Depends what.”

“Ward.”

Mack blinked. “Yeah, sure.” He had figured Hunter was just never going to talk about what had happened when he was undercover, and that was okay. There were some things people were never ready to talk about, even with the ones they loved.

“I… I told you he threatened to hurt you,” Hunter said, voice halting. “And I wanted to apologize.”

“Hunter, you don’t have to -”

“He wanted to _kill you_ to hurt me. He wanted to kill you because you matter to me and I… I’m sorry.”

“And I’m saying you still don’t have to apologize.” Mack hooked his hands under Hunter’s armpits and dragged his boyfriend into his lap. “Ward probably wanted us all dead anyways.”

“But he picked you to threaten,” Hunter whispered. “And it was my fault.”

“Last I checked, I agreed to this, too,” Mack said.

“But you…” Hunter dropped his head to Mack’s chest. “You’re an engineer. You’re basically the most built person in the world and you’re a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent but you’re an _engineer_ and you’re…”

“Fragile?” Mack suggested.

Hunter nodded, defeated.

“I know.” Mack pressed a kiss to the top of Hunter’s head. “I think about it a lot. How fragile life is.”

“I’m sorry,” Hunter said, and this time Mack knew he was apologizing for something different entirely.

“It’s not your fault,” Mack whispered. “And if my life was the price for Ward’s -”

“Don’t _say_ that!” Hunter interrupted, voice muffled into Mack’s chest. “I can’t… I love you so _much_ Mack, and trading your life away… I can’t do that.”

“You didn’t have to. And if even if Ward had tried, I think he probably underestimated Bobbi.”

“Everyone does,” Hunter agreed.

“I don’t blame you for taking the shot even when Ward threatened me. I would have been fine no matter what happened.”

“I blame me,” Hunter said.

Mack wrapped his arms tighter around Hunter, trying not to think about how small his boyfriend felt in his arms. “I know.”

“We’re a pair of self-flagellating idiots,” Hunter sighed, finally turning his chin up to look at Mack.

“A trio of self-flagellating idiots,” Mack corrected. Bobbi was the same way. And maybe that was the reason they worked so well together - they all had the same deeply-ingrained need to protect and the same guilt complex when they failed to do so to their satisfaction. It was a unique bond to have.

“Bob abandoned us. She doesn’t get to be a part of our club.”

“We have a club now?” Mack asked.

“Yeah. Extremely handsome men, nice abs, good kissers…” Hunter began walking his fingers up Mack’s chest, and Mack almost rolled his eyes. Hunter was good at switching on a dime from serious to not-so-serious, which was admittedly a good way to end potentially awkward conversations, but not so good for romance.

“I take back what I said about self flagellating,” Mack murmured, grabbing Hunter’s hand when it reached his collarbones and pressing a soft kiss to his boyfriend’s knuckles. “You’re shameless.”

“You love me.”

“More than anything,” Mack agreed, turning over Hunter’s hand to kiss the palm. _And someday I’m going to marry you._ The thought popped into his head unbidden, but Mack didn’t try to shove it away - just bit his tongue to keep it from slipping out. Someday didn’t mean today, and he wanted to be sure he was well and truly ready before agreeing to marry Bobbi and Hunter. They deserved to get it right the first time around.

\---

“What do you think the largest problem in your life is right now?” Dr. Garner asked, leaning back in his chair with his pad on his knee.

“Huh?”

“I’ve already done the necessary evaluations Coulson’s asked of me, and I want our time together to be productive. What would you like to talk about?”

Mack shrugged. “I’m actually doing pretty okay.” Apart from the guilt, the nightmares, and the wondering whether or not he was crazy for wanting to marry the people he’d been dating for less than a year.

Dr. Garner’s eyebrow ticked up. 

Mack leaned back in his chair, meeting Dr. Garner’s gaze. “I am happy,” he said simply. Even with the interrupted sleep and the looming question of where he’d be in his relationship in the near future, he was happier than he had been in a long time. He was more stable than he had been in a long time, too, between settling into his work partnership with Daisy and his personal partnership with Bobbi and Hunter.

“Do you think being happy and being okay are the same thing?” Dr. Garner asked.

“I think they’re close enough,” Mack answered steadily. The thing was, with the happiness he had, he would find his way to being okay. It wasn’t like other periods in his life when he wasn’t okay and saw no way to get there, either. 

“That’s an interesting philosophy I’d like to hear more about.” Dr. Garner put his pen down and Mack narrowed his eyes slightly. He was pretty sure therapy wasn’t supposed to be about his life philosophy, but there was no easy way to dodge the question.

“Happiness gives you hope,” Mack said simply. 

“What I’m hearing is that you might not be okay now, but because you’re happy you have hope for the future and being okay again.”

“That’s about it, yeah.”

“Why is it important for you to have hope, Mack?”

It took him longer than it should have to realize Dr. Garner was talking about hope and not Hope. Mack took a shaky breath.

“I think maybe there’s something else we should talk about,” he said after a too-long pause.

“What’s that?”

“I am in love with two of the best people in the world,” Mack said. He kept his eyes on Dr. Garner, trying to gauge his reaction, but the man was a stone wall. “And I think I might want to marry them. But there’s something in the way.”

“And what would that be?”

“I had a daughter.” Mack looked down at his hands. “Her name was Hope, and she died.”

Dr. Garner nodded, flipping to a new page in his notepad, and Mack hoped he wasn’t making a mistake.

\---

“I don’t know why we’re showing him the movie version,” Bobbi huffed as she sat next to Mack on the sofa. “The book is loads better.”

“Talk to Jemma, not to me.” Mack wrapped an arm around Bobbi’s shoulder, sighing softly when she cuddled into him. Honestly, Mack didn’t know why Jemma was insistent upon showing Will _The Hunger Games_ either when, like Bobbi had said, the book was objectively better in every way.

“Jemma has a crush on Jennifer Lawrence,” Hunter said as he settled into Mack’s other side, setting the bowl of popcorn he had made on Mack’s lap.

“I do not!” Jemma squeaked.

“Liam Hemsworth?” Bobbi suggested.

“Natalie Dormer, definitely,” Mack said, grabbing a handful of popcorn and shoving it into his mouth.

Bobbi raised her eyebrows at him. 

“If you and Hunter both have a thing for someone they must have something going for them, right?” Mack said around a handful of popcorn. “It’s just logic.” Never mind that he was _also_ a person who both Bobbi and Hunter had a thing for - that would just be self-congratulatory of him.

“You don’t think Natalie Dormer’s hot?” Daisy asked, settling on the floor near Jemma’s feet. 

“I don’t think anyone’s hot.”

Bobbi’s hand came to rest on his thigh and she squeezed gently.

“...Not even Bobbi and Hunter?” Jemma’s brow furrowed.

“Not even Bobbi and Hunter,” Mack confirmed. “I’m asexual.”

“Oh, cool,” Daisy said, leaning back against Jemma. “Bi-ace solidarity, partner.”

“He has plenty of bi-ace solidarity already,” Bobbi grumbled, burrowing further into Mack’s side. 

He put a placating arm around her shoulders and kissed the top of her head. “Jealous?” He mumbled into her hair.

“I am the most important bisexual in your life, Alphonso.”

“I never said you weren’t, Barbara.”

“Okay, this isn’t any less gross just because I know you guys aren’t going to get naked.” Daisy wrinkled her nose.

“We could still -”

“No, Hunter,” Mack and Bobbi said in unison. 

“It was just a joke,” he huffed.

“I know, buddy.” Mack draped his other arm around Hunter and rubbed a hand up and down his boyfriend’s arm. “You’re just not that funny.”

“Oi!”

“So,” Will said, seemingly unaware of the brewing civil war he had walked into. “Can someone explain to me why it’s called The Hunger Games? Are they all hungry or something?”

Daisy grinned when she met Mack’s gaze as Jemma began rattling off an explanation, and a weight he didn’t know he was holding dropped off his shoulders. He hadn’t expected her to react poorly - she was _Daisy_ after all - but it was nice to know his best friend would have his back no matter what.

\---

“Do you and Hunter want kids?” Mack asked one lazy Saturday afternoon.

Bobbi blinked up at him from where she was dozing on his bare chest. “We haven’t really talked about it since we got back together.” She paused. “Do you want kids?”

“I told Dr. Garner about Hope,” Mack said in lieu of an answer.

Bobbi’s fingers, which had been tracing idle patterns onto his pectorals, stilled. “How did that go?”

“Okay.” He shrugged.

“If you don’t want to have kids because of what happened to Hope, that’s fine,” Bobbi whispered, propping her chin on his chest so she could look him in the eye. “I don’t feel some inexplicable urge to be a mom and Hunter’s just terrified he’d mess a kid up, so we’d be okay with that.”

“And if I did want to have kids?” Mack asked. If he was honest, even he didn’t know where he stood on the issue, though he was sure Dr. Garner would poke and prod at it in their next session. Agreeing about having kids was an important part of a marriage, and since Mack had led with the whole ‘I want to marry them’ thing, it was bound to come up. 

“Then I would happily make you a baby. Or adopt you a baby. Whichever you wanted.”

Mack’s lips quirked into a smile. “You and Hunter would make a really cute kid.”

“Damn straight we would.” Bobbi yawned and settled her cheek back against his chest, her skin warm against his. “I’d feel a lot better bringing a kid into this world if I knew for sure aliens wouldn’t keep dropping out of the sky, though.”

“Not as bad as that robot uprising.”

“Do you think the world can stop ending for nine months?” Bobbi asked. “That doesn’t seem like too much to ask for.”

“I think you can take a break from saving the world for nine months,” Mack said. “Or Hunter and I will make you.”

“You two would be great dads,” Bobbi whispered. “And I’m sorry you never got that chance with Hope.”

“I’m still her dad,” Mack said, brushing a hand through Bobbi’s hair and ignoring the tightness in his chest. “I guess I just wish I could’ve gotten more time with her.”

“Is that why you don’t know if you want another kid?”

“I know that what happened to Hope wasn’t typical.” Mack let out a gusty sigh. “But yeah. I guess I am a little afraid.” He cleared his throat. “You know that’s why me and Nicole broke up, and I guess… you and Hunter…” His throat began to close up and Mack focused instead on his hand in Bobbi’s hair. He didn’t want to give up his relationship with Bobbi and Hunter, not for anything. If there was a chance, even a small one, that having a baby would lead to them breaking up, he wasn’t sure he wanted to start going down that path.

“We don’t ever ever want to leave you, Mack,” Bobbi murmured. “And I know you and Nicole didn’t go into things expecting them to end the way they did, and so I can’t make any promises, but… I don’t want you to keep yourself from being happy just because you’re afraid you might lose us.”

“What if I’m not a great dad?” Mack asked, trying not to choke on his own words. “What if I look at our kid and just see Hope?”

“I can tell you already that’s not going to happen.” Bobbi pulled herself up the bed so her head was in the crook of his neck and shoulder instead of on his chest. “You care about the person in front of you. You _see_ the person in front of you, not who you want them to be.” She pressed her nose into his neck, her breath warm on his skin. “And that’s what I love about you.”

Mack lost the battle against the tears that had been prickling at his eyes since they had first started talking about Hope. He hated sometimes how easy it was to forget that a huge part of his life had been stolen from him, hated that it was so hard to talk about even with the people who loved him most.

“It’s okay to cry,” Bobbi whispered, wrapping an arm over his chest. “I’ve got you.”

 _I’m okay_ , Mack thought as he rested a tear-stained cheek on the top of Bobbi’s head. _I’m going to be okay._ The loves of his life would make it so.

\---

“Hypothetically, how would one go about asking for a polyamorous relationship?”

Mack blinked once, twice, three times. Daisy had appeared out of nowhere and this wasn’t the kind of conversation he wanted to have while he was off-balance.

“You gonna tell me who this is about, Tremors?”

“I think you already know.”

Mack did already know - he’d figured it out sometime between all the longing looks and how when Jemma and Will were around, Daisy seemed to be around too. That didn’t mean he didn’t want to hear it out of Daisy’s own mouth.

“Have they ever talked about being poly?” Mack asked eventually.

“No. But Bobbi and Hunter never did either, did they?”

Mack inclined his head towards Daisy. That was a point. But he was also Bobbi and Hunter’s best friend before he was their boyfriend… Which was actually applicable in this situation, too. Huh.

“Bobbi and Hunter have never really cared about what other people think of them, though.” From what Mack could tell, a lot of polyamorous relationships were strained by needing to be some level of closeted. Mack still hadn’t told his family about his relationship with Bobbi and Hunter, which was going to need to change in the near future. He didn’t think his mom would appreciate him showing up and announcing he was going to marry two people she’d only ever heard about in the context of being his friends.

“Yeah, but if they love me, they love me, right?”

“Tremors,” Mack said, shutting the hood of the car he had been working on, “you know it’s not always that simple.”

“It was for you!”

“And I’m really, really lucky it was,” Mack answered levelly. “But I don’t want you to get your hopes up.”

“I’m not, promise.” Daisy ran her hand through her hair. “I just need to know where to start with this, you know? I mean, we already hang out a ton just the three of us, and I never _feel_ like I’m third-wheeling, so…?”

“I’m not saying it could never happen. I’m just saying to be careful with your heart.”

Daisy snorted. “I’m never careful.”

“That’s not true.”

“It’s not,” Daisy admitted, shoulders slumping. “But… it’s just _Jemma_.”

“It’s not just Jemma,” Mack retorted. That was kind of the point. And either way, Mack didn’t trust Jemma the way Daisy seemed to. He’d seen the result of her breaking his friend’s heart once already, and while Mack knew that Fitz was partially to blame for the whole situation at the bottom of the ocean… that didn’t mean Jemma’s hands were clean, either.

“You’re not very good at giving advice about polyamory for a guy in a polyamorous relationship,” Daisy huffed.

“Ask Bobbi,” Mack suggested.

“She’s too emotionally repressed.”

“Hey,” Mack said, a little more sharply than he intended. He needed to remember Daisy didn’t actually intend it as an insult, just a statement of fact. Bobbi’s honor didn’t need defending. “I’m messed up, too. That didn't keep you from coming to me for advice.”

“Yeah, but…” Daisy shrugged. 

“I know it’s hard, Tremors,” Mack said, slinging an arm around Daisy’s shoulders and pulling her close. “But really. You shouldn’t be asking the guy who took three months to realize he was dating someone about relationships.”

Daisy let out a sad chuckle. “You’re right. I guess I just needed someone to talk to.”

“Our door is always open,” Mack said, rubbing a hand up and down Daisy’s arm. “Whenever you need us, we’ll be there.”

Mack didn’t think Bobbi and Hunter would mind him speaking for them, in this case at least. He loved Daisy and they loved him, so they loved Daisy too.

\---

“Sir.” Mack stopped in the doorway of Coulson’s office and tried not to feel like a kid again. It was ridiculous since he had at least six inches on the director - though Coulson did have a robot arm. Because of Mack.

Which was exactly why he was here.

“Mack,” Coulson said, leaning back in his chair and beckoning Mack in. “What can I do for you?”

He was probably expecting a request for time off. Mack wasn’t going to do that, though; they were already understaffed and it wasn’t like he needed time off. Dr. Garner would probably tell him if he _needed_ time off. At least, Mack hoped the therapist would.

“I wanted to apologize,” Mack said, the muscles in his shoulders tightening so he wouldn’t betray his tension by clenching his jaw.

“What for?”

“For - the hand,” Mack answered haltingly. 

Coulson’s brow furrowed. “You’re apologizing for saving my life?”

“I’m apologizing for cutting off your hand to do it.”

“As much as I complain about the arm, Mack, I would very much not like to die again.” Coulson let out his huffy, almost ironic, laugh. “Once is more than enough for me.”

One resurrection was also more than enough for Mack, but he was too polite to say so. He also wasn’t particularly interested in getting into it with Coulson, especially because the older man did have the tendency to use the robotic arm as a trump card in arguments. He probably didn’t mean to, but he did. Coulson could probably also use a psych evaluation, not that Mack would say _that_ either. Dr. Garner was probably going to get Coulson into his office at some point, or at the very least have a conversation where he got inside Coulson’s head.

Dr. Garner was very good at getting people to talk. Probably because he was good at listening.

“Okay,” Mack said lamely, because he didn’t have anything better to end with. “Thank you for listening.”

Oddly, despite the brevity of the conversation, Mack did find he felt… better.

\---

“You’re hovering,” Hunter said without looking over his shoulder.

Sometimes, Mack regretted falling in love with two hyperobservant people.

“I wanted to talk to you without Bobbi hearing,” Mack admitted, sidling closer to Hunter. He was doing the dishes from everyone’s dinner - the one chore Bobbi tried to stay as far away from as possible.

“Uh oh.”

“Not uh oh,” Mack assured Hunter, leaning against the counter next to the sink. “I’ve been thinking about that question you asked me before you left to take down Ward.”

Hunter stopped scrubbing at the plate in his hand. He turned to look at Mack instead, hazel eyes wide and searching. “Yeah?”

“Yeah.” Mack rubbed at the back of his neck, unsure why exactly there were butterflies exploding in his stomach. He knew what he wanted to do; he had never been more sure of anything in his life. “The answer is yes.”

“Yes?” Hunter repeated, dumbfounded.

“Yeah, buddy. Yes.” 

A smile slowly spread across Hunter’s face and the dish he was holding clattered back into the sink. “Yes, you want to marry me and Bob?”

“Yeah, Hunter,” Mack laughed, butterflies swarming up his throat and out of his mouth with his laughter. “I want to marry you and Bobbi.”

Hunter abandoned the dishes, crowding instead into Mack’s personal space. “Can I kiss you?” he asked, already reaching for Mack’s face. Mack answered by bending down to fit his lips against Hunter’s, pulling the other man close to him.

“We’re going to get married,” Hunter murmured against Mack’s lips. 

“Yeah, we are,” Mack mumbled in response, pulling Hunter in for another kiss. “But you have to play it cool or the whole base will know something is up.”

“You’re the one who told me you wanted to marry me in apublic space, Alphonso!” Hunter’s indignation was obviously for show and Mack’s heart stuttered in his chest. He was going to marry Hunter. He was going to spend the rest of his life being teased by Hunter, waking up next to Hunter, falling asleep next to Hunter - and he couldn’t wait. 

“Where else am I guaranteed that Bobbi won’t walk in on us?” Mack asked, pressing his forehead against Hunter’s.

“I got soap suds on your cheeks,” Hunter whispered, tracing a warm, wet hand over Mack’s cheekbone.

“Don’t care. You’re my fiancé, you’re allowed.”

“I’m your fiancé,” Hunter repeated giddily. He pecked Mack’s lips again. “There’s so much I have to show you. I found so many ring options and I have a pros and cons list for who should legally marry who and Bob has been complaining about our first wedding for years and -”

“Lance,” Mack interrupted, running his thumb over the back of Hunter’s neck. “Maybe take a deep breath.”

“No,” Hunter said with a pout. 

“Do you want me to tell Bobbi you’re trying to get yourself killed?”

“No!” Hunter squeaked. “You’ll ruin the surprise!”

“I promise I won’t.” Mack pressed one more kiss to Hunter’s lips before releasing him. “C’mon, you’ve got chores to do.”

“And I don’t suppose you’re going to help with them, are you?”

“Nope.”

\---

“What’s up, losers?” Daisy asked as she strolled into the bedroom. Mack looked over her shoulder to where Bobbi was standing, looking somewhat sheepish.

“You didn’t answer the phone,” she said apologetically, sliding into bed while Daisy arranged herself at the foot. 

“Someone was sitting on me,” Mack said, gesturing to Hunter.

“I was not,” Hunter interjected. “And I won’t say anything more because we have company.”

Mack smirked as Daisy’s face scrunched, then slackened. She obviously was trying to figure out what could be impolite for company but not involve sex, and Mack wasn’t going to give her any hints.

“I came here because your boyfriend suggested I need advice from someone who was not him,” Daisy said, pointing at Mack. 

“Advice about boning Jemma and Will?” Hunter asked.

“I - how did you _know_?” A blush crawled along Daisy’s cheeks.

“Everyone in this base thinks they’re a super spy, but everyone is also really, really bad at hiding their pining,” Hunter answered. “After years with this one,” he jabbed his thumb towards Bobbi, “I learned how to pick up nonverbal emotional cues pretty well.”

“Mack didn’t tell you?”

“He doesn’t make a habit of sharing anyone else’s private information with us, no.” Bobbi leaned into Mack’s side, her hand curling around the hem of his tee. “Unless you tell him to talk about something he normally won’t. He’s the strong, silent type.” Bobbi smirked at Mack as she said it and he shook his head affectionately.

“So, do you have any advice?” Daisy prompted. “Because I’m kind of at a loss.”

“Have you tried talking to them?” Hunter asked drily.

“Oh yeah, because that would work so well! Hey, Jem, I know this is awkward but I’ve had a crush on you since the day we met and your astronaut boyfriend is also super hot, so I’d like it if we could become a throuple!”

“Maybe don’t go in quite that strong,” Bobbi said. “But they’re never going to know you’re interested if you don’t tell them. And most people aren’t looking to adopt a third person into their relationship unless they know that person is also interested in poly.”

“Could I just hint really heavily that I’m interested in poly?” Daisy asked hopefully.

“No,” Bobbi, Hunter, and Mack chorused. 

“Polyamory is built on communication, Dais. If you can’t even tell them you like them, you’re never going to be able to have a successful relationship,” Bobbi said. 

“You’re preaching,” Mack murmured, lips brushing against her skin.

“I don’t get to preach often,” Bobbi answered quietly. “Give me this.”

“Seriously though. How do I start?”

“Try… Jemma, our relationship means a lot to me, and I was hoping you and I could talk about what direction we want it to go in the future,” Bobbi suggested. “Leave it open-ended and she can steer it towards romance if it’s something she and Will have already talked about.”

Daisy pondered that for a long moment before nodding. “I can do that.”

\---

“I can tell you’re stalling,” Bobbi said flatly. 

“Stalling?” Mack repeated. Damnit. “I’m not stalling.”

He was stalling. He was stalling because Hunter was setting up the bedroom, and Mack hadn’t gotten the confirmation text that everything was in place. He didn’t want to ruin tonight, and Bobbi would forget any stalling he did the moment she stepped through the door to their bunk. At least, that was the hope.

“Alphonso.”

“Barbara,” he rejoined warmly. “I’m not stalling.”

“Then you’ll have no problem escorting me to our bedroom like I asked you to _ten minutes ago_.”

Mack’s phone buzzed in his pocket, and he hoped that was the signal he had been waiting for all night. “No, I won’t.” He offered Bobbi his arm and she shook her head fondly before wrapping her hands around the crook of his elbow.

“I still think you were stalling.”

“What will convince you I wasn’t?”

“If Hunter isn’t doing something ridiculous in the bedroom when we get back.” Bobbi paused. “Or maybe I need to set a week limit. You two can be crafty when you want to be.”

“We have to be, if we ever want to outsmart you.” 

“You’re never going to outsmart me. I have a PhD.”

“I’ll remind you of that the next time you ask me to kill a spider for you.”

“You wouldn’t.”

“I wouldn’t,” Mack agreed, brushing a kiss against her temple. “But I can’t let you get too cocky.”

“If we’re talking about cocky you need to have a talk with your boyfriend,” Bobbi snorted. “He’s like one of those little dogs, you know? All yappy and willing to take on anything that comes their way because they can’t imagine losing.”

“That’s why he has us for backup,” Mack chuckled. Yeah, sometimes Hunter bit off more than he could chew, but Mack didn’t mind cleaning up his messes. Much. It was part of being a supportive partner.

Soon, Mack would get to be a supportive husband instead. The thought made his stomach swoop dangerously, and he drew Bobbi closer to him. It felt strange to just _chat_ with her like he wouldn’t soon be asking her the biggest question of his life, but Mack liked it, too. He liked that he wasn’t nervous - just excited for what was coming.

He waved Bobbi through the door first, closing it firmly behind them once he was inside. He didn’t want this to be interrupted.

“You _were_ stalling,” Bobbi muttered under her breath when she looked around the bedroom. Hunter had carried out their plan to the last letter. The lights were dimmed, rose petals were spread over the bed and floor, candles in Bobbi’s favorite scent were sitting on every flat surface, and just behind Hunter was a bucket of ice, a champagne bottle sitting inside begging to be opened.

“Maybe a little,” Mack said, wrapping his arms around Bobbi from behind.

“What’s the occasion, then?” she asked. “I didn’t forget my own birthday, right?”

“Not a birthday,” Hunter interjected. “We just have something we wanted to ask you.”

“Something you wanted to ask me,” Bobbi repeated slowly. 

“Bob,” Hunter said, squaring his shoulders. “I’ve already done this once before so I’m going to keep it quick, but…” he cleared his throat and withdrew the ring box from his pocket. “You’re brilliant. Mack’s brilliant. And the three of us are brilliant together. And we’d kind of like it to stay that way forever.”

He opened the ring box, but Bobbi wasn’t looking - she had turned in Mack’s arms to face him instead. “We?” she whispered.

“Yeah. We.” Mack dipped his head down to rest his forehead against hers. “I’ve been thinking a lot about… this. Us. I know it’s new but it doesn’t feel that way. It feels like… It feels like a part of me has always been here. With you two. And now the rest of me gets to catch up.”

“Mack…”

“I wouldn’t be asking if I didn’t mean it, Barbara. Lance and I talked about this. A lot. And I know it’s what I want.”

“I’m not saying it’s not what you want,” Bobbi protested, wrapping her hand around the back of his neck. “I just never thought you’d be ready so quickly.”

“Neither did I,” Mack admitted. “But I am. I want to do this.”

“Then who am I to say no?” Bobbi pecked his lips before letting go of him to turn back to Hunter. “I would like my ring, please,” she said, sticking out her hand.

“So bossy,” Hunter murmured as he opened the ring box and fished the ring out. “Mack? You want to do the honors?”

“You do it, buddy,” Mack said. He wanted to see this moment and savor it, and he couldn’t do that if he was worried about fumbling with the ring.

It slid perfectly onto Bobbi’s finger, and Mack let out a breath. 

“Do you like it?” he asked as Bobbi inspected the ring. Mack hadn’t even looked at any ring beyond Hunter’s top choice. It was one ring made of three conjoined bands, which was already a perfect summary of their relationship. One band was platinum, the second rose gold, and the third onyx. Hunter had admitted he’d picked the ring with the black band because of the association between wearing a black ring and asexuality, which had turned Mack’s heart on its head. He wasn’t going to be wearing his wedding ring on his middle finger, where ace rings were normally worn, but Hunter knowing that bit of history and wanting to honor it made Mack _happy_. 

Bobbi’s version of the ring had tiny diamonds studded along the platinum band so it could serve as a combination engagement and wedding ring, and the stones caught in the light when Bobbi turned her hand slightly.

“It’s perfect,” she whispered. 

“We have ours, too, if you want us to start wearing them. We didn’t know what you’d want to do for paperwork but -” Hunter began.

“Wear them,” Bobbi said. “Please.”

Hunter fished out the other two rings. “You want to put mine on?” Hunter asked.

Mack nodded, taking the smaller ring in his hand before sliding it onto Hunter’s finger.

“That means I get to do yours,” Bobbi said. Mack held his hand out for her, and stared at his ring finger for several seconds after she had put his ring on. Mack had never been a ring person before, but he could imagine ever taking this one off.

“Champagne?” Bobbi asked, still holding onto Mack’s hand.

Hunter bent to grab the bottle, holding it towards Bobbi and Mack. “Who wants to open it?”

When neither of them answered, Hunter rolled his eyes and popped the top himself.

“To us,” he said, toasting the air. “And all that we’re going to be.”

“To us,” Bobbi and Mack chorused. They all took swigs of champagne and before Mack knew it there were lips on his, warm and familiar. Happiness burst in his chest like the tiny bubbles in the champagne, and Mack exhaled softly.

He had gotten right where he was supposed to be, right when he was supposed to be there.

All it took was a little hope.

**Author's Note:**

> Merry Christmas, Blue! Thank you so much for yelling at me to finish this fic for ages - and for everything else you've done for me this year. You make me a better human and I'm thankful for you this Christmas season and every other day of the year. :)


End file.
